Bel Canto, the new opera that premiered at Lyric Opera of Chicago on Monday night, is based on Ann Patchett's novel of the same name. This opera, curated by Renée Fleming, comes tantalizingly close to realizing the full operatic potential of its dramatic source material.

The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra has been a welcome visitor at Symphony Center five times since 1996. On Sunday, the orchestra, celebrated as Israel’s foremost cultural ambassador, will bring a program to Chicago that includes Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 “Eroica,” Ravel’s La Valse and a work by contemporary Israeli composer Josef Bardanashvili. Zubin Mehta, the orchestra’s music director for life, will lead the program at Symphony Center on November 15 at 7:00 p.m.

Interview with John Luther Adams about 'Sila: The Breath of the World,' a site-determined piece to be performed by the La Jolla Symphony and Chorus in San Diego on September 27. The free concert will take place at 3:00 p.m. in the Japanese Friendship Garden of Balboa Park, in celebration of the park's 100th anniversary.

The opera 'Andina,' written by Eustasio Rosales in the early 1930s, will receive its world premiere at Chicago's Athenaeum Theatre on September 18, 2015. Rosales is considered to be Chicago’s first Hispanic composer.

Recently, I've dreamed that I am late for a concert and I can't find my French horn. Or I have to play a solo horn recital in a few days, but I haven't played the horn for several years. I am desperately trying to get back into shape, but it's hopeless. I have learned that some of these nightmares seem to be common to all performing artists. But what do they actually mean?

It was only a matter of time until some brilliant designers started using the new 3D printing technology to make musical instruments. The science has recently moved beyond creating mere reproductions of existing musical instruments into promising new realms of creativity, sound and design.

Pianist Cédric Tiberghien will open the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s “Reveries and Passions” festival of French music with a solo recital of music by Debussy, Ravel and Szymanowski at Symphony Center on Sunday, May 3 at 3:00 p.m. This Symphony Center Presents program, inspired by the Festival's overall themes of beauty, fantasy and the darkness of night, will open with one of the most challenging solo piano pieces in the repertoire: Ravel's 'Gaspard de la nuit.'

Some contemporary composers prefer to use shapes, arrows and other visual symbols to indicate pitch, duration or volume in their music. Many of the graphic scores that result are quite beautiful and resemble works of modern art.

'A Coffin in Egypt' received its Chicago premiere Saturday night at the Harris Theater, with mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade in the starring role. The new opera by Ricky Ian Gordon is enlivened by von Stade’s emotionally moving portrayal of a woman struggling to deal with her wealthy husband’s infidelity.

Ricky Ian Gordon’s opera 'A Coffin in Egypt,' written for legendary mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade, is coming to the Harris Theater in Chicago on April 25, 29 and May 1 and 3. Von Stade will reprise her tour-de-force portrayal of Myrtle Bledsoe, grande dame of Egypt, Texas, in this Chicago Opera Theater production.

Violinist Hilary Hahn will present a solo recital at Symphony Center on April 12, featuring works by Bach, Schumann and Debussy, as well as selections from her Grammy Award-winning album 'In 27 Pieces.' Hahn released her newest album, 'Mozart 5, Vieuxtemps 4 – Violin Concertos,' on March 31.

Devotees of the English choral tradition can hear the world-famous Choir of King's College performing live at Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago on Tuesday, March 24. The concert is part of the Symphony Center Presents (SCP) concert series.

'Mozart in the Jungle,' the hit TV series about love, ambition and jealousy backstage at the symphony, was recently renewed for a second season on Amazon Instant Video. I recently had the opportunity to talk with Tindall about her book, the series, and life after 'Mozart in the Jungle.'

Lyric Opera of Chicago’s 2015-16 season will feature nine new-to-Chicago productions, including the long-awaited world premiere of 'Bel Canto,' an opera based on the award-winning 2001 novel by Ann Patchett. Shortly after Lyric announced their upcoming season, Kenneth Pigott, president and CEO of Lyric’s Board of Directors, passed away on February 13.